Bad Blood
by emptyelvisx
Summary: Broken family, broken home. It wasn't a shock that she'd fall in love with someone just as Broken.
1. 1st Encounter

**_New story that just happened due to my computer being out of commission and not much to do_**

* * *

It was the sound of breaking glass that woke me from my sleep. I tensed up immediately, straining my ears for any more noise coming from outside my room. The sound of stumbling feet and more breaking glass confirmed to me that my father had been drinking again. Nothing new there. That however, spurred me into action, I grabbed my teddy and blanket and tip toed as fast as I could to the corner of my room. There was a ladder that led up to the loft, my secondary bedroom. My safe haven whenever my father felt he wanted to cause destruction. I've lost count of all the times that I've climbed up there hiding from him, waiting for him to sober up or to pass out. It was always like this, and sometimes I couldn't blame him. Nothing has been the same since Mama left us.

He would drink himself stupid and then bang around the house breaking stuff. Hiding from him in the loft was the safest option for me, I didn't know what he was capable of when he was drunk and frankly I didn't want to chance it. I'd simply climb up and haul the ladder all the way up so he couldn't get in. I don't even think he remembers that this room exists to be honest, but as I said before, I'd rather not chance it.

Whatever happened between him and Mama, it had left him a mess. During the day he would stare at me and then make some comment about how I looked a lot like Mama, it creeped me out sometimes. During the nights, he's always drunk. I stayed up here where it was safe and then the next day I'd tell him that I stayed over Halibel's house. He always bought it thankfully.

I sighed, and started to unroll the futon that was in the corner of the loft, I lay down on it and wrapped up tightly in the blanket, pulling it way up to my chin. There was no heating up here and also due to the fact that it's winter, this isn't exactly the warmest room in the world. I could hear the sounds from downstairs, though slightly muffled and I sighed. What a mess of a family I have.

If what I had here could pass as a family.

Sleep didn't take long to come after that. I welcomed it from the noise that came from down below.

.

.

The next day, I found myself at school on top of the roof with Kurosaki Ichigo. He knew about everything that went on in my house and about Mama leaving and he was an amazing listener. He understood how I felt about my mother leaving and that made us even closer, forming a tight sibling like bond- his Mama passed away when he was just 9, mine packed her stuff and left not too long ago. Though he was a year older than me, he never brushed me off for his friends, instead he took me along with him and I became very close friends with the girls he hung out with, Orihime, Tier and Tatsuki in particular. Did I also mention I had no friends in my year? No siree, I was an outcast to them. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do when these guys leave in the summer.

"How was your night Nel?"

"Cold," I replied. He stiffened. Glanced at me. He knew.

"You know you should just report his useless ass right?"

I looked at him sadly, stifling the sigh that threatened to escape me. I've lost count of the amount of times that we've had this conversation. "I can't. He's the only family I've got left."

"You keep saying that Nel, but he's dangerous," pressed Ichigo.

"He hasn't hit me or done anything bad to me Ichi"

"Yet"

We fell into silence. I had no comeback for that statement. I never did, and although Ichigo had a point, I don't think I have it in me to abandon my all the time that had passed, my Pa was still broken hearted about my Ma leaving as he was the day it happened.

"He won't. Ever," I said. Though I felt as if I were trying to convince myself along with Ichigo.

"You keep saying that but you don't know Nel," he said running his hand through his hair in frustration, "but you know that if anything happens, I'm a phone call away right? We've always got room at my place if anything falls through," he said with a slight smile.

I smiled back at him. "I know. You're the best Ichi"

He graced me with one of his rare grins, "I know. Now c'mon, I'll walk you to your next lesson,"

I sat up and dusted off my school skirt and started after the taller boy, who just so happened to be halfway across the roof to the exit. I sped up to a jog to catch up to him.

"Oi! What's the point in offering to walk me to class if you're gonna leave me behind?!"I said exasperated.

"I'm not leaving you behind, maybe you should just walk faster twerp,"

"I am not a twerp!" I said indigantly

"Suuuure, if ya say so...twerp"

"Call me that again one more time Kurosaki Ichigo and I swear I'll- oof!"

I was so caught up in my argument with Ichigo that I wasn't watching where I was going, and ended up knocking into someone. Said someone was holding onto my arms to prevent me from falling back, similar to how I was holding onto his arms. And my goodness they were arms. So muscular and hard to the touch-

"Yo, shorty. Watch where you're going nex' time will ya"

I looked up from the arms of the stranger and was hit by blue. Blue eyes and blue hair. Was that even natural? Who was I to speak I had green hair and Ichi had orange hair-

"Soo...we gonna stand here starin' at each other or d'ya plan on lettin' me go anytime soon pretty lady?"

I licked my lips. That voice. Kami that voice. My throat suddenly went dry and for some strange reason I forgot how to speak. All I could do was stare at his face.

He cleared his throat and then I realized that I really had been staring at him and gripping onto his arms. I quickly let go of him, feeling my cheeks burn to red. Oh my days he probably thought I was an idiot!

He appraised me, the corner of his lips tilting upwards and then he said, "Well anyways I got ta get to the nex' stupid lesson, I guess I'll be seein' you around or somethin' Shorty,"

I nodded, swallowed and watched him walk off towards a group of guys which I assume were his friends who seemed to have been waiting for him further along the hall way.

"Nel! Are you alright?!" came Ichigo's voice out of the blue.

I stared dazedly at him and shook my head, "Yea...yea why wouldn't I be?" I asked. Pull yourself together girl! I chastised myself.

"Why were you talking to Grimmjow? He's not safe to be around at all," said Ichigo as we resumed our journey to the Language block.

Grimmjow? So that's his name...

"He's pretty" Did I just say that out loud? Oh Kami.

Ichigo snorted. "Well that's one way girls describe his mutt face. C'mon walk faster or we're gonna be late"

"oO-okay" I said absently. My mind wasn't focused on getting to Language at all. My mind wasn't even focused on my crazy drunk father for once. It was instead focused on that rough looking blue haired boy. Grimmjow huh? Such an extraordinary name. Such a extraordinary face.


	2. 2nd Encounter & 3rd Time's the Charm

It wasn't long before I encountered the blue haired mystery that was Grimmjow again. This time he barged up to our spot on the roof with his group of friends. I was sitting in a small circle with the girls talking about the usual stuff-Halibel's mystery boyfriend for one- and the boy were further off joking and being loud as usual. I was kind of taken by surprise, no one really came up here, and from the looks of the newcomers, they weren't up here to share food and exchange funny stories. Nothing good would come from this encounter.

"Well if it ain't the Brady Bunch and their damn merry group of bitches," sneered the tallest of the group. And I meant tall. I swear he was at least a foot over 7 inches. He wore and eye patch over one eye, leaving the other violet coloured one exposed to us. It scared me.

Of course, Ichigo wasn't going to take kindly to that statement, he jumped off the ledge he was sitting on and approached the guy, not too long followed by Renji, Uryuu, Sado and Shuuhei.

"They're ladies. And they've done nothing to you ya fuckin' flagpole so leave."

I winced at Ichigo's crass language. He rarely ever swore around me, knowing that I hated it and violence. The one eye that wasn't covered turned from us to Ichigo.

"Whatever. I wasn't here to beat up on the slags anyways, I came here to kick yer ass inta nex' week fer that lil stunt ya pulled taday" he said.

Ichigo instantly lowered his stance to a fighting one.

"You can try"

Oh no. This couldn't be good.

Before I even registered what was happening I was rushing towards the group. Ichigo was a good fighter, great even, but the thought of him getting hurt didn't settle well in my stomach. I stood between the two, arms spread wide in a feeble attempt to stop them from fighting.

"What d'ya think yer doin' broad? Move outta the friggin way!"

I shook my head defiantly. Kami knows where this bravery was coming from all of a sudden but all I could do was roll with it. What could go wrong? It's not like he'd hit me, I'm a girl and guys aren't supposed to hit girls...right?

"Well I ain't got no problems hitting on a bitch anyways," the taller boy growled. Absently I heard Ichigo in the background telling me to move but I was too enraptured in the huge fist rearing back and then heading for me. My face. That sudden bravery I had a while ago flew through the window and I just stood there in shock. My eyes widened. It was so fast. But before it could hit me in the face another hand shot out stopping it. I could feel the air hit my face.

"Ya ain't got no problems hitting on a lady Nnoi, but I do," came a familiar husky voice.

My eyes turned to the direction of where it came from and met with blue. A feral grin broke out across his face.

"Yo, shorty"

.

.

.

When Grimmjow first ran into the quiet green-haired girl, he thought it'd be a while before he actually saw her again, considering that he'd never seen her before. In all the years of being in the same high school you'd think that he would have at least have seen her once before. It was a mystery how she managed to blend in with everyone else with that hair colour of hers. He was almost positive that he would have seen her at least once already.

When Nnoitra said he wanted to go onto the rooftop to bother Kurosaki, he went with. He was bored and he was sick of the same bitches hanging off him like a Christmas tree ornament. When he saw that head of green hair up on the roof he suddenly understood why he never noticed her before. If she was hanging out with Kurosaki, that meant she was literally being guarded by Kurosaki. Like that Inoue girl. If it hadn't been for Valentine's Day when she handed the orange haired brute a bag of chocolate then no one would have known the two were together.

What surprised him even more was how she immediately dashed in-between Nnoitra and the carrot top before they could fight. She was definitely something. And so short too. His train of thought was broken when he registered his friend rearing his fist back to hit the girl. He knew Nnoitra had no qualms about hitting on a woman, and that just didn't sit right with Grimmjow. Especially on this woman. He liked her face. A lot. He grabbed the fist before it could shoot forwards to her face.

"Ya ain't got a problem hittin' on women Nnoi, but I do"

I watched amused as the pretty grey-brown eyes turned to look at me.

"Yo, shorty."

He noticed the slight pink tinge on her cheeks, the way her eyes had widened in fear and how her chest rose and fell at a quick steady rate. What a rack. He looked back up at her face. She was pretty. Hella stupid pretty. He was wondering how far down that blush would travel when Nnoitra's fist shook in his hand.

"Lemmie go ya prick!"

"Naah Nnoi, leave 'em be" I growled. Nnoitra grumbled something under is breath before finally dropping his fist and marching off the roof top. The door slammed signalling his exit and then I smirked at the girl in front of me.

"So what's yer name Shorty?"

"Neliel Tu" came the soft reply. He liked her voice too. So soft and child like. He was attracted to her even more.

"Wanna hang wit me one of these days...Neliel?"

Her eyes widened in shock, almost as if she had never been asked out on a date before, but considering her impromptu security guard, Grimmjow wouldn't be surprised at all.

"No she wouldn't"

Grimmjow's eyebrows shot down in distaste as Kurosaki pulled her out of his line of vision and suddenly Tier Halibel stood in front of him. He folded his arms and looked down at her.

"What does her chilling with me have to do with you or anyone else here?"

The blonde tilted her head, as if actually contemplating the question. "Well, considering the fact that we're the only friends that she's got here...hmm...everything. She doesn't need someone your gang banging ass messing around and causing her any problems than she already has. The bell rang announcing the end of the lunch period and the group around them slowly dissolved but Grimmjow ignored them.

"Who said I was going to bring her any bullshit? Just a lil fun, for the both of us, she sure as hell looks like she could use it"

"She don't roll that way Jaggerjaques, and it'd be best if you just left her alone."

"That's rich coming from you, last I checked you were fuckin' with my boy Starrk"

The blonde's eyes darkened in anger, but she said nothing in response. "C'mon Nel- I'll walk her to class Ichigo" she said, picking up her stuff and grasping the other girl's hand and walking off the rooftop. Ichigo and his friends followed not too long after and that left him up there with Starrk and Ulquiorra. He grunted and they nodded, following him down the stairs to their lockers. Next period was community service, he had to get some hours in if he wanted a good place in college. Nnoitra was down there waiting on them and once he saw Grimmjow he shouted, "Why'd you cut into my fight fer? Ya don't even know the broad!"

"Yer beef wasn't with her, drop it," growled the blue haired boy in response.

"Clearly, Grimmjow is interested in the girl," said Ulquiorra in his monotone voice.

"Che. Ya made a piece of common pussy get in the way of my fight?"

"There was nothing common bout her Nnoi. Plus I saved yer ass from suspension. Ichimaru-sensei was watching from his window"

"Fuck him and his suspension"

"Til yer ma comes over here and busts your ass wide open"

"Shut the fuck up"

Ulquiorra sighed in boredom. Starrk yawned.

"Why didn't ya tell me yer girl hung with Kurosaki?" asked Grimmjow, changing into his sparring gear.

"You didn't ask," came the lazy reply. Grimmjow swore he could've choked him then.

"I'm gone. Got Kenpachi on comm service today"

The others nodded and made to their separate destinations in the school.

.

.

.

They always said that the third time was the charm didn't they?

I saw the bluenette again during gym. Kenpachi-sensei had us doing kick-boxing and he was talking to sensei about the lesson, I have no idea why. I sighed to myself. Not that I minded, I was a belt away from being a black belt myself, and I was very confident in my martial arts skills, thanks to Ichigo...and beating on Kurosaki-san with his express permission of course.

"Alright ya worthless worms! Line up!" boomed our sensei's voice. Everyone immediately scrambled to attention to meet his requirements. I had no idea what got these kids so worked up anyways. Kenny was like a toothless Rottweiler, all bark, no bite.

"Alright! This guy right here is Grimmjow, he'll be helping you today for his community service hours. Now pair up!"

I sighed once more. I was avoided like the plague and everyone paired up, leaving me the odd one out since there was only 15 of us. I gave Kenpachi-sensei a bored look to which he grinned.

"Oi Jaggerjaques, do Nel a favor and spar wit her will ya? She can't spar wit air now can she?"

Oh my.

Did Kenny really just ask Grimmjow to spar with me? My mind was running at 100 miles a minute while he walked over to me.

He looked good. Grey wife-beater and basketball shorts that were low on his hips, so you could see the top of his boxers. Oh my.

"We meet again shorty," he smirked at me.

"How unfortunate for me," I joked back at him. On the inside I thought I was going to explode from nerves.

"I think that's the most I've ever heard you say since I've met you" he said, smirk widening. Most of his teeth were exposed now. Teeth? Hell they were more like fangs. I wonder what would happen if he bit me-

"Yo, earth to shorty, where's yer mind gone all of a sudden?" e asked suddenly, waving his hand infront of me.

I jumped back in shock and then huffed at him.

"I'm not that short you know!"

"Yer not even up to my neck, that's short by my standards...shorty,"

One of my eyebrows shot upwards appraising him cynically. "Your standards?"

He was about to reply when Kenny's sharp bark interrupted the both of us.

"Hey! Less chit chat and more sparring from the both of ya!"

I nodded towards him and assumed my initial boxing stance.

He looked at me impressed. "So, can ya fight shorty?" he asked before mimicking the stance as well.

"Come at me and see...Blueberry," I replied. He snorted at the nickname and charged.

.

.

.

About half an hour later I had him pinned. The entire class was surrounding us in a small circle and though I should have felt self conscious, I didn't care. It felt good showing them what I was made of and it sure as hell wasn't sugar spice and everything nice.

"Tap out Blueberry," I grit to him. Hss wife-beater was drenched in sweat, and it stuck to him, along with his hair and I didn't even think to look down because I was sure I'd pass out. But alas, curiosity got the best of me and I looked down. The next thing I knew I was being lifted and the tables were turned.

"I think you're the one that should be considering tapping out...Shorty," I didn't need to look at the mutt's face to know he was smirking at me. I was about to reply to him when the bell rang. No one moved though and Kenny was the one that had to break up the crowd.

"Alright get yer useless maggot asses into the changing rooms. You two can call it a draw for now, although I hate to see a good fight go unfinished," he grumbled walking off. Grimmjow smirked at me before relaxing his posture above me, getting to his feet and helping me up at the same time.

"Well damn Shorty, you can fight."

"You're not too bad yourself," I said smiling. The only other people who commended my fighting was Ichi, Bya-kun and Kenny, my three 'instructors'.

"Though I don't mind you holding my hand Shorty, I really gotta go change and get ready for my next class," came Grimmjow's husky voice. I looked down at our embraced hands amd then up at his face only to see a bemused look and a cocked eyebrow.

Dear Kami.

How many times was I going to embarrass myself around him?

I pulled my hand from his and practically ran to the girl's changing room, but that didn't save me from hearing his laughter.

I've had enough of blushing around Grimmjow Jaggerjaques.


	3. Royals

**_New chapter to catch up with what i've written :)_**

**_To Darlrai88, Nokturnallight and Fostersb: you're all darlings, thank you so much for reading :)_**

* * *

The least favourite part of Grimmjow's day was going home. Well, if you could even call the impromptu brothel that he lived in a home. He stood on the porch with the key in his hand, staring at the door. He hated opening the door to the dingy house. He hated what waited for him behind the door of the house. His father.

The only reason why Grimmjow still stayed in this shithole was because of his mother. His father was a cheater and an alcoholic. His mother, a brokenhearted shell of a woman who didn't have it in her to leave him, she loved him too much. She left her life and family back in Germany just to be with him, to have it all blow up in her face. Grimmjow had tried time and time again to get her to leave, he had the money and the connections through his "job", but hell would freeze over before she would change her mind. Day in day out she would just sit in her room in a chair by the window, staring outside. She rarely spoke. He hated seeing her like this. He snorted bitterly at how everything came full circle. His mother refused to leave his father, he refused to leave her.

He opened the door, not surprised by the sounds of loud screaming and moaning coming from up above and went straight down the hallway to the kitchen, shutting the door behind him. He put some water in the kettle and set a cup down with a teabag. It was a ritual for him. He always made her tea when he got home from school. Sometimes she would drink, other times she would ignore it. He used these actions to determine her mood, and then he'd try having a conversation with her. The kettle whistled and he poured the water into the cup, letting the tea steep for a bit and then adding the sugar and milk he knew she liked. Then it was the ascent up the stairs. Past the loud noises in his father's room, past his room, and finally to his mother's room.

He placed the tea by her and sat on the ground by her feet. When he saw that she was drinking the tea he sighed in contentment. That was a good sign.

"Gutten abend, Mutter," he greeted her, knowing that she preferred her home tongue than Japanese.

"Guten abend Leibe," she said softly in response.

The sounds from the room a few doors down suddenly got louder and he saw her flinch before looking down into her cup. His jaw ticked in anger.

"Y'know Ma, I'll never understand why you stick around with that bastard"

"One day you'll fall in love and then you'll never want to leave that person, then you'll understand how I feel." she said silently. He noted how her accent was still heavily German, though she had been in Japan since before he was born.

He rolled her eyes at her statement.

"If this is what love does to anyone, fuck it. S'not worth it. I ain't getting hung up over no woman."

"You say that now love, but when it hits you- which it will, don't give me that look- you'll be swept up in it and you won't regret it at all. You've got a big heart, the girl you give it to will be the luckiest in the world."

"The only woman I can afford to give my heart to is you Mutter," he said under his breath.

Which was true. All of what he did, the school work, the "jobs" he did, it was all for her. For her to get out of this shithole and move on with her life, and know that he was happy as well. If only she'd just pack up willingly so she could live the good life he knew she could.

There was a moment of silence while she finished her tea then she started combing through his short locks. She used to do it when he was younger, but back then his hair was way tried to push the argument again, although he knew how it would end but he had to try. Maybe this time she'd say yes.

"Y'know Ma, all you have to do is say the word and I can get you out of here. I've got more than enough money saved up and I know some people that can-"

The hand in his hair stopped almost instantly. "Grimmjow Alexandar Jaggerjaques. The last time we had this argument and the other times before I have told you that I have no intention of leaving your father or this house. I don't want to speak of it again. This is the last time."

He grit his teeth and stood up, in effect knocking her hand completely from his hair.

"Well I refuse to sit here and watch you do this to yourself Mother."

He couldn't do it. He had to leave. Right now. He made for the door, but paused when she asked, "Grimmjow, wo gehst du hin?"

"Work. Don't expect me back til tomorrow afternoon, I'm staying over a friend's house. Ich werde euch morgen Mutter"

The door shut behind him and he took the stairs by twos, leaving the mess of a home as fast as he could.

* * *

When I got home, the first thing I noticed what that the house was clean. No broken glass, no bottles no nothing. I walked into the kitchen to find my father. Sober. Cooking.

I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth though so I went over to the pot he was standing at smiled at him in greeting.

"Konbanwa otou-san"

"Evening Nel," came the reply.

"What's cooking?" I asked, putting my bag down and sitting on one of the island stools.

"BBQ chicken, stir fried rice and ice-cream after" he replied, stirring the pot and then turning to the frying pan.

My ears perked up at the last part almost immediately.

"Ice-cream? What kind of ice-cream?"

"Pistachio"

My favorites. He was cooking all my favorites tonight. I wonder if he got a call from school or something about me doing something good for him to be going all out tonight. Didn't matter though. He was talking, and he wasn't drunk. He was almost how he used to be before my mother left. It was almost as if there was nothing wrong.

When dinner was ready he served and we ate mostly in silence, with him asking the occasional question that I didn't hesitate to answer.

After dinner, I offered to do the washing up to which he said he'd do, so I decided that it was high time for me to start getting some work done as well as a shower.

"I'm gonna shower and then get some homework done okay Dad? I might not come back down tonight so have a good night!" I said, picking up my bag and going upstairs.

"Hai, hai, goodnight Neliel," he said, finishing off the dishes.

I smiled. Tonight was perfect. At least I knew that I would be sleeping in my bed tonight.

.

.

.

By 9pm, I was showered, my hair was in a wet braid, my jammies were on and I was stacking my work folders back in my bag, all assignments complete. I climbed into bed almost too enthusiastically, cuddling into my bear Bowa-bowa. He was the only thing I had left from my mother. I don't know why I didn't throw him away, but there were more good memories than bad when it came to him. I pulled my blanket further up to my chin and after that sleep didn't take too long to overcome me.

.

.

.

I was hot. Burning hot. I couldn't breathe. Stifling. I shifted, and realized there was something heavy on top of me. My neck felt like it was in a stranglehold, as if it was gonna get snapped. I opened my eyes and gasped in shock, my arms automatically reaching up to the ones that were tightly around my throat.

"D-d-dad-"

"You just refuse to die don't you, you dumb bitch!"

Oh my kami. My father was actually trying to kill me.

I could smell alcohol reeking from his breath and I panicked some more, thrashing harder against him. Somehow I managed to bite him and when he yelled out in pain and loosened his grip I kicked him off the bed and jumped into action. I grabbed my phone and ran down the stairs to the front door. I had to leave. As fast as possible.

My fingers were slipping though, and for some reason I couldn't open the door. I could hear him at the top of the stairs. I had to run, and the front door wasn't opening. I immediately turned tail and ran to the guest's bathroom, locking the door. I sat on the toilet holding my breath, I heard stomping and the loud, "I'll kill you, you bitch!" reverberating through the house. I had to think. Before he found me. Think, think, think, think. Then I remembered my phone. Ichigo!

It was 1am in the morning but chances were he was awake watching some dumb mecha anime series or reading a book.

I pressed his speed dial number, thankful for once that he did it for me saying that I'd never know when I might need him.

The door knob turned. Then he started to bang against it. Immediately I panicked. Tears welled up in my eyes again and I silently started praying for Ichigo to pick up.

"Open the fucking door you bitch! I'll kill you, I'll fucking kill you!"

I looked up at the window, my only way out but I knew it was too small. I had to try anyways. By this time I could hear cracking in the door. Oh my god I was actually going t die. By the time I started to try climb out the window, the door gave another loud crack and Ichigo finally picked up.

"Nel? Nel what's wrong?" came his instantly panicked voice.

Another bang. The door broke and I felt his grip on my foot. I screamed, I have no idea how long for. I was being dragged from the window. He hauled and my head hit against the ceramic of the toilet top. I was dazed but I had to tell Ichigo before I passed out. With the hit I just got it was sure to happen.

"Ichi HELP! HELP HE'S GOING TO KILL ME-"

He grabbed my throat, cutting me off and then he lifted me. Black spots. I was losing consciousness. I really was going to die. His grip around my neck tightened. Then he banged me against something.

Darkness.

.

.

.

I woke up in a dimly lit room that wasn't mine in a lot of pain.

My body felt like I was trampled and run over horses and trains a hundred times over at least. I groaned at the pain and blinked.

"Dad I think she's waking up, come check her now," came a frantic voice.

"I-Ichigo?" my voice was hoarse and cracked. My throat hurt like hell. I felt someone lightly take my hand and squeeze. Was it really Ichi?

I tried to speak again but I couldn't find my voice. So I squeezed his hand in response.

"Nel can you hear me?"

I squeezed his hand again, still unable to find my voice.

"Nel do you know who I am?" came a deeper voice. I turned to where it was coming from and looked at the person through half lidded eyes.

"Y-you're Kurosaki-san" I croaked. I sounded like a dead frog. Ew.

"Do you know who this is?" he asked pointing to his son.

"T-the fruit of your st-strong loins," I said, breaking the thread of tension. Ichigo blushed and batted his dad's hands away while Isshin laughed, while inspecting me and checking over the IVs.

"That's very much right Nel. You'll be just fine" he said, making some notes and then he left.

I watched him go through bleary eyes but I fought the sleep that tried to overcome me. I had to speak to Ichigo first.

"I-ichi?"

"Yes Nel?"

"Water p-please"

He jumped to quickly grant my wish. I felt like if I didn't have a drink I was going to crumble into a thousand pieces. He plopped a bendy straw into a glass and put it to my lips and I eagerly gulped down the contents, wincing at the burn my throat gave. He set the glass down once it was completely empty and we sat there once more in silence.

"Ichi?"

"Hmm?"

"C-can you tell me what happened?"

"You called literally just as I was getting out the shower, and when I picked up all I could hear was screaming and banging-something about your father saying he was going to kill you and then I just dropped my phone and ran over to your house. I had to kick down the door- there wasn't any noise and then I saw that the door to your bathroom was broken- he was on top of you, your head was bleeding- I thought you were-"

He stopped talking and took a steadying breath. I squeezed his hand. He didn't need to finish his sentence. He thought I was long dead by the time he had gotten there.

"So...what are my injuries?" I inquired, trying to change the subject quickly. I knew Ichigo and he was tearing himself apart on the inside right now for not being able to get to my house in time. He looked at me, giving a look that clearly said 'I know what you're trying to do' before launching into the full injuries overview.

"No broken ribs, forehead injury, I saw some blood on the toilet so I'm guessing that's where you got it from, a bump on the back of your head, bruised ribs not broken though, sore windpipe and my dad's unsure of whether or not there's any internal bleeding, but you seem fine so I think he's ruling it out. Oh, and a black eye."

More silence. I didn't know what to say.

I didn't even realize I was crying until I noticed I was sniffling. Ichigo embraced me as best as he could and I bawled my eyes out. I guess it was finally hitting me that my own father had actually tried to kill me.

I cried for what felt like ages, I couldn't stop no matter how hard I tried. By the time I finally stopped Ichigo's sleep shirt was soaked through completely. Through it all he just let me cry, slowly rocking me, sometimes kissing the top of my hair.

Sometimes I wondered what I would do if I didn't have him as my best friend. Well, if you thought about it I'd probably be dead, I had no one else who I was as close to as I was with him.

"Don't cry Nel, the police have him now, you're safe now. I'm here," he said, trying to comfort me. He gently rocked me side to side, "dad says it's fine for you to stay here if you don't wanna go back. You definitely know that you can stay for however long you wanna. Just like that saying, mi casa something es cheese casa"

I giggled at his language slip. He was completely hopeless with everything that wasn't science or math.

"Baka. The saying is 'mi casa es su casa'"

"Well excuse me Miss I-know-every-single-bloody-language-in-the-world" he snorted. I laughed with him and then once again, we fell into silence.

I was feeling drowsy again, but before I fell asleep I managed to mumble, "Thanks Ichi. For everything,"

"You're like a sister to me Nel, I'd never let anything happen to you. Now get some sleep, I'll talk to you in the morning."

I nodded and drifted off.


	4. No Consequences

Shorty hadn't been in school for three days and for some reason it put Grimmjow on edge. As soon as the bell rang for lunch he grabbed his bag and made way from the math block to the roof where he knew that damned carrot-top would be. Sure enough, he was up there, along with his other friends, but that lovely head of green was nowhere to be seen. The door behind him slammed shut and the group finally noticed their extra addition. Ichigo immediately stood and went over to him, signaling for the others to stay put.

"What d'you want Jaggerjaques?"

"Where's shorty?"

"What's it matter to you?"

"Well it's not really your business but I do know she's in your little happy go lucky clique here so I'm almost 100% sure you know where she is." replied the bluenet, folding his arms across his chest.

"She's ill, she won't be in school for a while."

"Bull. Shit. We both know she's as strong as a bull, no flu is gonna get her down so easily. Now humor me with the truth."

He hated when people lied to him. What was so hard about knowing the truth? All he wanted to know was where she was was that so hard?

"Look, I don't like you and I definitely don't like that you're sniffing around Nel so much lately. I see the shit you pull with other girls and I'll be damned before I actually let you pull that shit with Nel. She is not a toy." the ginger grit out.

Now Grimmjow was pissed.

"And who the fuck died and made you king Kurosaki? You can't tell me who I can or can't chill with, nor can you tell that to her. I'm not gonna argue with your lil bitch ass Kurosaki, I just wanna know where se fuckin' is."

The other scowled and ran his hand through his already messy hair.

"She's...got shit going on with her family and she won't be in for a while. That's all I can say about it for now"

"There we go, wasn't too hard was it? When you see her, tell her I said hi," said Grimmjow heading for the door.

"Stay away from Neliel Jaggerjaques, she doesn't need the bullshit you carry along with you everywhere,"

"I don't think you're in any position to tell me what I can or cannot do with her Kurosaki, you aren't her father," he said with a smirk. He didn't bother to look back as he left the roof and went down to the parking lot where his friends would be.

* * *

I haven't been in school for three days and in all honesty it was killing me. I missed my small circle of friends, I missed my classes, I even missed being ignored by the high majority of my year group. I missed my lessons, especially languages, which I had top grades for thank you very much. Being in school kept me grounded, lessons kept me distracted from the problems at home and if I kept thinking about the jacked up life I had my mind would be sure to explode.

The day after the incident two officers came to question me. It went without saying that it didn't go too well, but they got enough information to fully start a case against my father and chances were high that he would end up in jail. Isshin tried to get in contact with my mother but it was unsuccessful, as I expected. She had completely washed her hands of me and my dad with no regrets. I don't even think she'd turn up at my funeral if I died. He also got all my clothes for me from the house, even my teddy bear, bless his soul.

Staying at the Kurosaki's was like staying at a 5 star bed and breakfast. Ichigo gave up his bed for me and slept on a futon by me to watch over me by night- I know, he's so overprotective it hurts- Karin and Yuzu pampered me like a life sized dolly and the head Kurosaki gave me daily check ups, giving me the all clear sign for most of my injuries except for my head ones. I had a bump at the back of my head and a gash on my forehead. I didn't even want to know how that would look for me.

On my second day, he removed the bandages on my forehead so he could assess the damage. When he handed me the mirror I gasped. There was a huge gash in the form of a line running down my forehead and it had been neatly stitched closed no doubt thanks to the skills of Kurosaki-san. I didn't need to ask him if there would be a scar, it was pretty obvious with the way it looked. To cover it, I had Yuzu style my hair to have bangs. It did the trick quite well, though I knew it would take some time getting used to it, plenty of times already I've jumped at a strand of my hair in my face.

My other injuries included bruised ribs and sore throat. A really sore throat. At first it really hurt to swallow but now it didn't really hurt that bad.

The third day I'd read through every single manga in Ichigo's small bookshelf and then even started on his boring science books. Sometimes I wondered how he did it. Languages were so much better to learn. By the time mid day rolled around I decided that I was gonna ask Kurosaki-san to give me the go ahead for school. If I stayed in bed any longer I would tear this room apart. Yuzu practically forbade me from doing any chores-I couldn't even make my own breakfast!- and Karin was nearly always out playing football or hanging out with her friends and I didn't want to be a bother to Kurosaki-san while he works in the clinic. So that kinda left me alone until Ichi was home.

By the looks of it he hasn't told my friends about what happened...I'd have to ask him about that as well. The door downstairs opened, Kurosaki-san's voice rang out in joy, not too long followed by a loud crash and wail from said Kurosaki. Yep, Ichi was definitely home.

I heard the footsteps, being here for so long I was able to time when he would be here.

3...2...1...

"Yo, squirt," he greeted, throwing his bag down and sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Hello Ichi. How was your day?"

"Eh, was okay. I got some homework for you to do while you were here, figured you were bored doing nothing. By the way, it should be illegal to carry the books you do. No one needs and English, Spanish and German dictionary all in one day." he muttered, rubbing his shoulders.

I stared incredulously at him.

"You act like you don't lug around all these boring Biology books too! Who in their right mind needs a book about germs and one about the theory of evolution?!"

"That's not the point," he huffed, "there's a thing at school they call lockers. You should totally use one. And I'm pretty sure the 99% of dictionaries come in pocket size."

"Man up Ichi, pocket size dictionaries don't have all the information and words that I need for my work"

He said nothing to counter, and I beamed at my small won argument.

Now to get onto the proper battleground...

"How're you feeling?" he asked, pulling my books from his bag and placing them on my lap.

"Better. Way better. I hardly feel any pain now. Can I go back to school tomorrow?"

"No way."

I frowned at him. I expected this reaction from him but I wasn't going to give up so easily.

"I'm going. You're not stopping me Ichi,"

"And I said you're not because you're not fully healed!"

"I'm fine! All that's there is a tiny headache which I can deal with, if it gets worse I'll go to the nurse and I won't over exert myself or anything I promise just please let me go or I'll start climbing up the walls here!"

"You're not going yet,"

"Please! I'm going to die here if I spend another day doing nothing!"

"You've got your homework"

"All tiny things that I can do in a blink of an eye"

There was silence and then his shoulders dropped.

"Fine. I'll ask dad to come check you over and he'll decide."

I smiled at him and hugged him, my books falling to the floor but I didn't really care. Convincing Kurosaki-san that I was fine wouldn't be too hard, plus he knew how I felt being stuck here all day.

"Don't get too happy, go do your work or something," he said, shrugging me off playfully and picking up my books. I took them once more and started skimming over Frau Gardner's assignments.

"So did anything interesting happen today?"

"Well nothing much, the girls were pestering Hal about that Starrk guy she's dating especially from Rukia and Inoue gave Ishida food poisoning from some strange thing she made. They're asking for you, I told them that you're down with a fever for a while and that the old man put you on quarantine" he said, flipping through one of his manga.

"Oh," I replied slightly disappointed, "Um, did you see those boys again today?"

"Unfortunately for me, yes I did," he replied frowning. "Grimmjow was even asking for you"

I perked up instantly.

That meant something right? He actually took the time out to look for me- oh what the hell am I doing, I sound like Rukia every time she talks about the little things that Renji does for her. And I feel like squaling. Butterflies are about to commit murder in my tummy.

"I told him to fuck off though. He's bad news. I don't want him around you, especially with his track record."

The butterflies died.

The need to squeal disappeared.

I frowned at his bad language.

"He's just being nice Ichi, plus he seems like a good friend to have. I like him."

"Nel I think that if someone punched you in the face you'd apologize to them for it. You're too kind for your own good. Plus, you don't know him. He messes around with women, he's always getting into fights and some people even say he's in a gang. Which I wouldn't be surprised about with the people he hangs out with."

"And you believe the stuff people say about him? I bet he's not half as bad as you make him out to be, you're always getting into fights but you're still one of my best friends. He's a good person Ichi, for heaven's sake he prevented me from being hit!"

"BECAUSE HE WANTS TO FUCK YOU!"

I flinched, but he didn't seem to notice and carried on with his rant.

"He's fucking Grimmjow Jaggerjaques, he's been screwing around with woman- regardless of their age since he hit puberty! I don't know why you think he's some fucking saint or some good guy when all he wants to do is rut into you and then act like it didn't happen at all! You're like a sister to me Nel, I refuse to see that shit happen to you like it has to so many girls. That and the fact that he's dangerous."

"H-He's not like that," I said, though my voice was barely above a whisper.

"I don't know why you insist on seeing the good in people, especially when there's none in them. But since you won't listen to me, hopefully you'll listen to Halibel, she's known him for a long time she'll tell you everything. I'm gonna go find Dad and ask him to check you over for school tomorrow."

I nodded, not daring to look up as he took his leave. I packed my books and grabbed a pillow off the bed. There was no way I was sleeping in his room tonight. I'll see if the twins will have me. A tear slipped down my cheek but I wiped it away quickly. I've never had an argument with Ichigo like that before. But I refuse to let him talk badly about Grimmjow. I was definitely going to ask Hal about him when I went back to school.


	5. Alone Together

It felt good to finally be back in school.

It wasn't very hard to convince Kurosaki-san that I'd be fine and after making the necessary promises to both him and Ichigo, I was given the green light.

I didn't even realize how much I missed school until I got there. I missed my classes, the constant being ignored by my classmates, the heavy weight of my books in my backpack, I even missed the smell. Or maybe that was going a bit too far.

Ichigo walked with me to my homeroom and on our way there I noticed a few people from my class staring at us. Or me in particular. Probably staring that the bandage that was on my forehead, not completely covered by the bangs. Tied quite loosely around my neck was a thin red scarf to cover the bruising that had not disappeared. It irritated me and I really wanted to yank it off but I was under strict orders to keep it on so questions could be avoided.

So far, the only people who knew what had happened at my house were the Kurosakis and the principal. The teachers wouldn't need to know unless it was seriously hindering my education, and I would try my best to make sure that that definitely didn't happen. The less people that knew, the better. I hated pity and I don't need it from them.

"Nel!"

Ichigo and I stopped walking and turned to the voice.

I smiled at the coming person. Just the girl I wanted to see.

"Ohayo Halibel!"

"Morning to you too stranger," she said, then turned to Ichigo, "I'll walk her the rest of the way. You go to homeroom before Chizuru attempts to rape your girlfriend again" she called dragging me further down the hall and away from him. We stopped at the opposite end of the corridor where my form room was. People rarely came around here and it was a good place for the conversation I knew I was going to have with her.

"Where the hell have you been?!" she hissed when we got to the deserted end of the corridor. I was surprised that she wasn't screaming.

"You skipped school for the first time in forever for not even one but three days! Three! And Ichigo came with this excuse about you not feeling well when we all know full well that you have never had a sick day in your life. I've been calling and getting no answer off you, Orihime said she went by your house and it was taped off and there were police cars outside. Now you are going to tell me the truth about what happened. And don't even think about trying to lie to me."

Nel worried her bottom lip. She hated lying to her friends and that was exactly what she was about to do now. She took a deep breath to prepare herself and then launched into the story that Ichigo helped her fabricate last night.

"I can't explain everything to you fully now because the bell's about to go in two minutes but to answer some questions, my phone broke on Monday night...my house was broken into and I was in the shower. I tried to get out the house quickly but slipped and fell in a puddle of my own water and banged my head and I was completely out of it for a few days but I've been given the all clear by Kurosaki-san yesterday to come in. And since they broke in, they've caused some serious damage so I'm assuming the police taped off the house to prevent trespassing to...gather evidence."

As she finished her explanation the bell rang.

"Look I'll answer anything else you have to ask at lunch time but I have to go now so I can get my attendance mark, I'll see you Hal!" I said slightly jogging down the hall to get into my classroom.

* * *

The first half of the day went by with me handing in the biggest pile of homework to my German teacher and completing the assignment that she set for the day as well. Sometime I thought it was unfair that I did German considering that I was born in Germany but I loved it anyways. The bell rang and I packed my dictionary and thesaurus into my bag and made way for the rooftop where everyone else would be waiting.

Once more, I kept my head low so my bangs could cover the bandage that I was so self conscious about and hurried to the other side of the school. To get to the usual hangout spot I had to leave the language block and go over to the science block, which was a bit of a walk across the school but seeing as most of my friends did science and art we deemed it best to sit there. I didn't mind the walk, most of the time I found it refreshing. I stepped out of the language building and started walking past the parking lot when a voice stopped me.

"Yo, Shorty wait up!"

Butterflies exploded in my tummy once more. I stopped walking and looked over to where the voice was coming from. I turned to see Grimmjow Jaggerjaques leaning against a really nice black car smoking a cigarette. He waved at me to come over.

I hesitated. There was that half of me that wanted to go over there more than anything, and there was that part of me that was suddenly replaying Ichigo's words from last night in my head. He seemed to notice my hesitance and walked over to me.

"Have lunch with me Shorty" he said taking another pull from the cigarette.

"I-I have to go meet with Ichigo-"

"Fuck the Strawberry. I've been lookin' for you for days now, one day won't kill him."

I thought about it. It wouldn't really matter right? I'd just say I spent lunch with my teacher to get some extra credit to boost my grade-although I don't know how it's possible to get higher than an A+.

I nodded and he gave me that feral grin.

"C'mon then, I'm starving!"

I followed him to the back of the lot, where there seemed to be a huge garage like building. Then it hit me that I had no idea what he specialized in at school. He didn't look to be sciency, or arty and I've never seen him on the language block before, though he seemed sporty, but sports was mandatory in school, we all had to do it...

"Ano- Grimmjow?"

"What is it?" he asked ahead of me.

"What do you study?"

"Ain't it obvious?"

"...not really,"

"Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics," he said proudly.

"Woah."

And they called this guy a delinquent? A thug? To do Mechanical Engineering meant that your grades had to be straight A's. They accepted no one with grades less than that. Halibel was the only female in the entire group and according to her there were 10 of them in the class. Even Uryuu, one of the smartest I knew did the test and didn't qualify for it when he took the exam.

"Yep. And this here old warehouse is where we have our lessons. We have our own block but we prefer it down here. Plus it's quicker for us to do our practical work."

"Practical work?"

"If ya come inside I'll show ya,"

"O-okay."

He pushed the door open and gestured for me to go inside.

And boy was I shocked. It was like I stepped into a dimension where I definitely didn't belong.

For one, it was huge. It was unlike any other classroom in the school.

Along one side of the wall there were 10 cars aligned, all in different stages of...repair? It was fascinating. At the front of the room was an interactive board and desks and chairs where I'm guessing they had their lessons. On another side of the room there were Alienware computers. Not too far from it, there was a massive door with the sign "Tools" on top of it. It seemed like the students for this subject spent all their time down here because they even had lockers down here.

"Wow."

"Ya gonna stand around staring or are ya coming to eat?" he asked, heading over to one of the cars that were being repaired. There were no doors, but there were two seats at the front. resting by the drivers side I noticed that there was a fast food bag. He picked it up the bag and sat in the seat. I stood on the outside watching him, unsure of what to do. He glance up at me from his bag,

"Ain't ya gonna sit? S'not dirty y'know"

"Ah-"

"Well if it isn't the brave lil' broad"

I stiffened immediately. Oh no. Not him again.

I didn't dare turn around. Instead I just stared at Grimmjow in a silent plea for help. A really long shadow took over mine and then I felt really long claw like fingers on my shoulder.

"Oi, what're ya doin' here broad?"

I couldn't answer. It was like my voice box packed up and abandoned ship, leaving me there with my mouth gaping and body. The grip on my shoulder tightened and I whimpered. Suddenly I was drawn back to Monday, when my own father was gripping me, trying to choke the life out of me.

"Ya haven't answered ma question yet broad,"

"Get yer fucking hands off her Nnoi," growled Grimmjow stepping out of the car, "she's with me."

The fingers slackened, then released my shoulder.

"Get in the car Shorty, I'm gonna have a word or two with Nnoi...or maybe three." he said shoving his hands in his pockets.

I didn't say anything. Clearly my voice box was still on vacation. I just went into the shell of the car and sat, pulling out my lunch.

I wasn't even hungry anymore. I just stared at the bento, too in shock to think.

"Care to tell me what you're doing down here Nel?"

I jumped and looked over at Halibel, who was sitting in Grimmjow's previous seat.

"H-Hal-"

"It's not safe down here y'know. You should be having lunch with Rukia and Orihime."

"I-I know but Grimmjow invited me to lunch and he said he'd show me around and I didn't want to be rude," I stammered out.

The older girl sighed and looked at me.

"Look Nel, though the kids down here are smart, they're not safe, especially Nnoitra," she said glancing over to the two boys talking near the tools room in front of them, "he doesn't hesitate to hurt women. And neither do half the other guys here. Grimmjow's one of the nicer ones and although he's taken a liking to you I can't say I particularly like it."

"What's his story?" I asked, tearing into my food bag for the hell of it, to avoid looking into Hal's face. She had this thing where she read people like a book and she always saw through me.

"I've known him since elementary. He's always been good with numbers. He's loud. His hair color is natural. Loves women. Loves cars. I can't wait to see what he's gonna do with this baby, he's so far ahead than the rest of us," she said, softly patting the metallic dashboard.

I looked at her skeptically.

"This...shell is far ahead of the others? It looks like the parts have been hauled out from the dump."

"They have. That's our assignment this year. Get the parts from the junk yard, make a fully running car from scratch by july."

"EH?! Make the car?!"

"Yep. Mine's the one marked three, you can check it out when you leave. But now I'm going up to the roof. I'm guessing you want me to cover for you?"

I nodded gratefully. "Tell them I'm still in language and I'll see them after school,"

"Okay, your lover boy's coming back so I'm going to leave you now"

"What! H-he's not my lover boy we-we're just friends!"

"You be careful Nel," she said quietly before leaving the car just as silently as she came in. She walked over to the two boys and said something to Grimmjow, to which he nodded and then she left the building.

I ate the food in my bag silently, once more gone off into day dream land.

Which meant that when Grimmjow came back in the car I didn't even realize.

"So what's with the new hair style? Ya been gone for three days and you go and transform on me," he said picking up his food and resuming eating.

"Um, my house got broken into and I slipped and fell, it caused me to get stitches and because I don't want to draw attention to my bandage I had thicker bangs cut," I said lifting up the loose hair to show the bandage. He stopped chewing his sandwich and a hand reached out to lightly touch it.

"Shit when the Strawberry said y'were having family problems I had no idea it was so serious," he muttered.

I dropped my bangs and started to fiddle with my scarf.

"And what's with that scrap of cloth?"

I paused my fiddling and panicked.

"I-um-I-"

"Look if ya don't wanna talk about it, it's fine," he said.

I exhaled in relief. I had no explanation for the scarf on my neck at all, a base that even Ichigo forgot to cover.

"So, everything alright with your family now then?" he asked.

"W-well not really, it's all just a huge mess but it'll be cleared up soon I hope," I replied, trying to sound optimistic.

We lapsed into silence, he finished his sandwich and pulled out that box of cigarettes he had previously in the parking lot.

"You know those can kill you," I said wrinkling my nose.

"Mmm? So does living,"

I sniffed and said nothing. He had a point.

He popped one into his mouth and turned to me, "I'm not gonna smoke it I'm just putting it in my mouth," he said in explanation.

I nodded.

"Hal said you were building this car from scratch? That's really impressive," I said trying to strike up conversation.

"Yep," he said with pride in his voice, "she's gonna be a beast when I'm done with her."

"The car you were leaning on in the parking lot, was that yours?"

"Yep, she's my other babe."

"What kind of car is it?"

"She is a Mitsubishi Evo X FQ-400. She's used, but she's a beauty."

None of that made sense to me but I nodded for the sake of it. I'd look it up on the internet when I got home tonight.

"Why d'you call her she?" Was it possible for a man to love a car so much that he'd put a gender on it?

"Because if Pantera was a woman she'd be a right bitch on the streets," he said with a smirk.

"It does seem fast," I mused.

"Seem? Her 0-60 is in 3.8 seconds. She's a road queen."

The bell rang. I noticed people filtering back into the room and I turned to Grimmjow.

"I guess I should be going now," I said, packing my empty lunch bag into my backpack.

"Hn. I'll walk ya back," he said stepping out the car. I followed his actions.

The other people in the room took notice of the both of us and said nothing and I was thankful for that because these guys were huge. Huge.

"C'mon or you'll be late," he said taking my hand. I reddened.

His hand was so warm. And big. I could barely make out my fingers in his grasp. He walked me right into the building, up the stairs and to the door marked German.

"Come eat with me on Monday," he said.

"I-I can't I haven't seen any of my friends except Hal since I've been back and I don't Ichigo's impressed with me skipping out on him today," I said biting my lip.

He sighed. "Fine, but you'll try find me at some point right? I'd really like to get to know you better Shorty."

"Maybe."

He lifted his hand to my face and gently pulled my lip from my teeth. "Stop doing that, you'll ruin your lips"

"What do you care?" I asked defiantly. I couldn't help biting my lip, I was nervous!

"Well I like your lip," he said, tilting my face up to his.

Again my voice jumped ship. He stepped closer to me, our chests were almost touching and he bent his face down to me.

I couldn't breathe. Was he actually going to-

"Ehem," came a stern sounding cough from behind us.

I jumped, completely flustered.

Frau Gardener looked at the both of us distastefully.

"Neliel, in die klass!" she snapped.

I barely got a chance to say bye to Grimmjow, who was frowning deeply at my teacher, I was too embarrassed. I took my seat at the back and opened my books and got right back down to work, hoping that the next two hours would go as fast as possible.


	6. Never Again

_So this came out way later than expected...but I hope you enjoy it x _

_Verdammt noch mal- damn it all _

_Note: a strap is slang for a gun and a nine is a 9mm_

* * *

Grimmjow was stressed. After walking out on his mother that Monday night, he had yet to go back to the house to see her. Instead he stayed at the huge penthouse apartment he bought for her, brooding and thinking over things. He refused to go back to that house, especially when he knew that he was so angry. It meant he would end up shouting at her and that was the last thing he wanted.

He hated to see his mother sad. Shouting at her would probably cause her to cry. On the first night that he walked out he went straight to Las Noches in hope of a job to do and distract himself from the argument and found himself being the transporter for a stakeout for three consecutive nights. On the last night he'd had the pleasure of being shot at but thankfully he was uninjured and so was his car. He'd hardly slept in that time-span, surviving off coffee and energy drinks and he was a bit behind on his schoolwork, not to mention his cigarette count had jumped from four to ten a day.

When he finally saw Shorty on Friday, hustling her huge backpack on her shoulders and heading over to the building where her friends usually had lunch he had no idea what compelled him to stop her.

She was a breath of fresh air from the constant noise and bullshit that surrounded him and he welcomed it. The concern from her, the timid questions the way she would be brave and give her own opinion when she wanted.

It fascinated him.

He wanted to get to know her better, which he found strange.

Usually, he would just hook up with a girl for a week, fuck 'em and then discard them. He had no time to deal with the baggage of other women, whose biggest problems were what color nail polish they should wear like he gave a fuck. But then again, she wasn't like the others. Sure, she blushed a lot and she stammered when she said things sometimes, but she was on a whole different level, a mystery.

He'd never considered himself the type of a guy to get into a relationship with a girl, with any girl, yet still after she'd left he'd barely worked on his car because all his thoughts were on her.

It both annoyed and piqued his curiosity.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. He changed out of his garage overalls into the normal uniform and headed out for his Evo.

"Yo Grimmjow!"

"What d'ya want Starrk?" he growled, not looking back, "if it's orders from Aizen forget it,"

"There's no orders this weekend. What I want you to do is give me a ride home and a cigarette so I can roll up." "

You ain't smoking that shit in my car,"

"Well can I smoke it in your flat?"

"Fuck sake. Get in the car and hurry. 'M gonna go see my ma,"

* * *

The first thing Grimmjow noticed when he got to the house was that the door was open. Secondly it was deathly quiet. He immediately reached for the strap that was tucked into the back of his school trousers and walked slowly into the house. Though his dad was an irresponsible piece of shit, he knew that he would never leave the door unlocked, especially with the neighborhood that they lived in, it was especially dangerous for his mother, who couldn't hurt a fly even if it were to kill her.

The entire place was ramshacked, which made him bound up the stairs as fast as possible straight to his mother's room. Her room seemed to have gotten it the worst. The chair she was usually sitting on was broken and thrown over. Even the cheap linoleum flooring had been torn up. Her futon was thrown across the room and upon further inspection he noticed her frail arm sticking out from under it.

"Mama! Aufwachen Mama!" He checked for pulse and found one, though faint and pulled out his phone. Fuck the ambulance, that meant police and he couldn't be dealing with that especially with the firearm he carried. the phone rang twice and someone answered.

"I need you here at my mom's house now, we've been robbed and she's unconscious!" he hung up and carefully pulled the futon off checked her over for any serous injuries and thankfully she wasn't bleeding either. About five minutes later he heard the sound of the door opening downstairs which made him reach for his gun again but seeing who it was made him relax his posture.

"My my Grimmjow, you weren't going to shoot me with that now were you?"

"Shut up Szayel and help her," he growled.

"Ah ah ah, you know I'm not exactly obligated to be here, I can leave this old woman here to suffer,you'll have to ask me better than that Grimmjow"

"Just help her. Please." said Grimmjow standing and giving the other man room.

"And just where are you off to?"

"Gonna find my fuckin' useless fuck of a dad and shove this nine up his ass," said Grimmjow pulling out the gun.

As he stepped out of the room, two others stepped in with a stretch like piece of apparatus, he let them knowing they were Szayel's assistants. He went straight to his father's door, not bothering to knock or anything. He knew he was gone before he even entered butt he had to check. Knowing him, he'd probably fucked off to god knows where running from god knows who and leaving his own wife behind with absolutely no regret. It angered him. He grit his teeth and inspected the room. Everything here was ruined as well and upon further inspection his father's few belongings were gone. The fucking cunt.

"G-grimmjow-sama?"

"Don't fucking call me that," he spat, turning to look at one of the assistants.

"B-but you are one of The Ten, we have to do it to show our respect Grimmjow-sama," he rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to snap at the other man. "What the fuck did you come here for?" he growled. "Szayel Apprro-sama said to tell you that your mother is awake and we're moving her to Las Noches," the short man stammered out.

"Hn. I'll be out in five minutes. Tell the pinky to wait fer me," he said kicking over the already overturned futon.

He didn't acknowledge when the other man left, just continued to comb through the minimal pieces of furniture in the house. There was nothing, not even a note. He went to check in his own room had been gone through as well, though he didn't keep anything of value in there, only some school uniforms and books that could be easily replaced. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Verdammt noch mal"

His mind was a mess. A huge part of him was worried about his mother's condition, another part wasn't too worried because he knew Szayel was as good as any 1st class doctor in the best hospitals. There was one side of him that was blaming himself for not getting his mother out of this shithole as soon as possible and there was one side of him that was glad that for now he'd gotten rid of his father. Hopefully it would be a permanent thing. If he saw him again he wassure he would plant a bullet in between the bastard's eyes.

He'd mentally started pro-ing and con-ing.

On the good side, he'd finally gotten his mother out of this shithole. On the bad side it meant he had to come up with a good story to cover up what he actually did for a "part-time" job. There was no way that he could barge into her room when she woke up saying that he was the Sexta of the Espada, the largest branch of Yakuza in the entire country

* * *

I spent my weekend quite awkwardly at the Kurosaki's. Things were still slightly tense between Ichigo and I since the argument we had in regards to a certain blue haired boy and so I spent my nights with the twins. I tried to occupy myself with menial tasks like helping the twins around the house and doing homework but that flew by quickly as well, German was never really any much of a hassle for me, not like French or English was and soon enough I found myself missing Ichigo's company.

So on Sunday evening I went and knocked on his door. Well, more like standing outside his door listening to him play guitar and building up a whole mountain of courage to knock on his door.

"Come in," he called out and I slowly opened it.

I don't know why I was scared. It was just Ichigo.

I opened the door to him sitting on the edge of his bed, with his guitar in his lap lazily plucking at the strings. He looked up at me expressionless.

"Hey," I said silently.

"Hi."

We were both silent again and then I just blurted out, "I'm sorry Ichi,"

"Why are you apologizing? If anyone should be saying sorry it's me," he said, placing his guitar to lean on the wall.

"I-I don't know, I just know I miss my best friend. A lot. I don't want us to argue anymore," I said, picking at my hair.

"Well then I'm sorry for shouting on Thursday. It was wrong of me and I don't have the right to tell you who you can or can't talk to, even if I hate the son of a-"

"Ichi."

"You know what I mean. It's just that I don't like or trust him. Especially around you, but that's enough of that. Where were you on Friday at lunch anyways?"

I bit my lip. Friday when I begged Halibel to walk me home so I could avoid Ichigo and lock myself up in my bedroom to avoid any conversation in fear of letting it slip that I had lunch with Grimmjow. When I had my almost kiss with Grimmjow. I ignored the sudden butterflies and answered Ichigo best I could.

"I-I got held back by my German teacher she had some extra work that she wanted me to do, didn't Halibel tell you?"

Oh Kami I hated lying. If he saw through this one I'd never hear the end of it.

He nodded slowly, "She did say, it just slipped my mind I guess. You are eating with us on Monday though, right?"

"Won't miss it at all," I said smiling at him.

"C'mon Squirt, let's play some video games before bed," he said gently patting her head before grabbing the controls and handing them to her.

"I am not a squirt!" I huffed indignantly.

"You are until you can beat me, Squirt."


	7. Rumor Has ItJealousCrush

_**Idk about this one...I feel like i've done something wrong with it but I hope you enjoy it anyways x**_

* * *

Monday morning I found myself in front of Ichigo's mirror, combing down my bangs to make sure they were covering my bangs and checking that my scarf was secure around my neck. For any other bruises I'd dabbed on a bit of foundation that I bought over the weekend and I fixed myself up with some concealer, a little mascara and a hint of nude lipstick.

Wonder why I'm going through all this effort?

It wasn't because I might be seeing Grimmjow during the day. Or at least partially.

A migraine was tearing through my forehead this morning and I woke up feeling and looking like a zombie, but I refused to stay in bed today and if I told Ichigo he'd definitely tell his father and he'd definitely not let me go to school today. I thanked the big man up there for letting Hal take the time out to teach me how to use make up.

Plus, I haven't seen my other friends in almost a week. Screw the headache, I was going to see them.

I heard Ichigo calling me from downstairs and grabbed my phone-that Kurosaki-san was so kind to buy for me over the weekend- and my backpack and jumped down the stairs by twos. Not my smartest decision since it rattled my brain even more and made the headache even worse. Oh well. Time for school.

School was a nightmare.

I forgot how loud and noisy the people could be as I walked with Ichigo to my homeroom. There were people banging lockers open and closed, girls squealing, people arguing and it all rained down on my head like a stack of newly sharpened needles. I got to homeroom and told Ichigo I'd meet him on the rooftop for sure, as we normally do and stepped into the class.

As soon as I stepped in, it was like the entire classroom fell into silence.

All eyes were on me.

Were my bandages showing?

Was my scarf loose? It didn't feel like it.

I walked hurriedly to the back of the class and took my seat, head hung low. As soon as I sat down I whipped my phone out and launched my front camera. My scarf was in place and my bangs were fine.

Why was everybody staring at me like that then?

Our teacher came in and everyone faced front for roll call, ignoring me once more.

All the better.

Today was definitely strange.

When I walked from homeroom down the corridors I noticed other students looking and pointing at me too.

What in the world...

The people in French were no better.

While all this was happening my headache was steadily playing its own beat in my head. I could barely concentrate on the essay I was to write.

It was at lunch that I finally realized why they were staring at me like that.

On my way from the languages block to the rooftop where my friends were, two girls appeared out of nowhere blocking my path. Both girls were slender looking, and had a menacing aura about them that didn't settle right with me. One had long black hair, pulled back into two pigtails and one had short blonde hair.

Who were these girls? Why were they blocking my way?

I looked behind my shoulder to see if there was anyone there, but there was no one. Just me.

"So you're the bitch" sneered the black haired one.

Wait...what?

"Excuse me?" I asked slightly incredulously.

"What, are you deaf?"

"Do I know you?" I asked. She was...annoying me. And I rarely ever got annoyed.

"No but I've come here to give you a warning you freak," replied pigtails stepping towards me.

"Okay...so what's the warning?" I asked, shifting my backpack strap on my shoulder impatiently.

"I was getting to that will you shut up?" she snapped.

My eyebrow twitched. And now I was annoyed level 100.

"Stay away from Grimmjow!" she shouted all of a sudden.

I blinked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said stay away from Grimmjow you green haired freak!" she shrieked again.

She was blocking me from my friends, food and potential pain killers from Halibel to tell me to stay away from Grimmjow?

"Why?" I asked, cocking my head in confusion.

"Because he's mine! You hear that?! MINE!"

Or maybe she was just crazy. Probably delusional. According to Halibel, Grimmjow didn't date. And he wouldn't want to get to know me while he had a special someone...right? He wouldn't try to kiss me if he had a girlfriend...or would he?

Suddenly Ichigo's voice popped up in the back of my head. _"He's a playboy Nel!"_

I mentally shook my head. Nuh-uh. Not now.

"And if I don't stay away?" I asked, glancing at the time at my phone.

5 minutes of chatting and food being wasted on this girl.

"Then I'll knock your face on concrete!"

Yep, delusional.

"Uh...I don't know what you've been seeing or hearing, but there's nothing going on between Grimmjow and I. He's helped me out once when someone was going to attack me and that was it," I said, "now if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet my friends-"

"You'll go nowhere you lying bitch! Everyone's been talking about how you were kissing in front of Gardner-sensei's classroom! You stay away from him or you'll regret-"

"Neliel, I've been wondering what was taking you so long to get to the roof," came a voice from behind Thing 1 and Thing 2. Halibel was leaning against a wall looking unimpressed.

"Loly, Menoly, what the hell are you doing?" she asked pushing herself off the wall and striding to them. She strode past them, took my hand and hauled me straight through them and to the rooftop. Before we got onto there though she stopped and faced me.

"You know there's been some rumors flying around all day today about you and a certain blue haired engineer."

My eyes widened, thinking suddenly of all my friends.

"Do they-"

"Know? Yep. Good luck with explaining it to them. Ichigo's been socking everyone who's been talking about it in the face as well. He's livid."

He was going to kill me. We walked onto the roof and as with every other human being that's seen me this morning, all conversation ceased and they were all staring at me again. I kept my head down and took my usual seat by Rukia and Orihime. Before my bum was parked on the bench Rukia snapped, "Spill. And don't you dare leave anything out"

"I didn't kiss him! We were outside my classroom and we were talking and then my teacher told me to go into my class which I did and that was it! There's nothing going on I swear" I blurted out. That was...90% of the truth. Not exactly a lie. I was just editing certain events from the whole story.

"See Ichigo? It was just rumors. You can keep your knickers on now and apologize to Renji." said Rukia, resuming her lunch. The rest of the group's tension also seemed to disperse and the conversations from before started over again.

I could still feel Ichigo's eyes on me though; I knew I wasn't anywhere out of the hot water. A Kurosaki styled interrogation was bound to happen when we got home tonight.

"So...how did you end up in cohorts with someone like Grimmjow Jaggerjaques?" asked Rukia suddenly.

Internally I sighed. Trust her to not let it go.

"Nothing too serious. He defended me once and I sparred with him in gym last week and since then we've just been talking," I replied, taking a bite out of my sandwich and chasing it down with some strawberry smoothie. I felt my headache disperse a little and I thanks the heavens. Maybe it was just the hunger after all.

"You know, they say he's a real player, always messing around with girls, especially that one...what's her name? That one that's always in the pigtails, you know who I'm talking right Hime?" said Rukia casually.

Pigtails?

"Oh you mean Loly? I wouldn't know, but she isn't very nice, I don't think he'd go for a girl like her," mused the ginger girl, spooning some brown concoction into her mouth.

Loly?

Like the Loly that stopped me on my way here? Grimmjow used to have a thing with her?

I looked at Halibel questioningly, but her face gave away nothing.

I could feel the headache building up again. So much for it being the hunger. Suddenly I felt really...angry.

I stood abruptly, taking my bag with me and heading for the door.

"Where are you going Nel?" asked Ichigo.

"To the nurse. Girl problems." I said breezing out. I knew he wouldn't follow me. If there was one thing that he'd most definitely stay away from it was "girl problems" even with Orihime. I breezed down the stairs, massaging my temples and heading for the back lot. On my way there I checked my watch. Barely 15 minutes until the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

I could always ask him about it tomorrow, but for some strange reason I had to know. Today. Right now. I spotted the black Mitsubishi, but the owner wasn't there so I made a beeline for the garage. Just as I was about to step through however, memories of an unsavory kind struck me.

That boy.

That one that just seemed to want to hurt me.

What if he were in there?

He wouldn't hesitate to knock me out if he got the chance, and he's tried to demonstrate that many times already.

So here I was standing outside the garage contemplating all this when a familiar voice called out to me making me jump.

I turned to see that tall lazy looking one that Halibel was dating.

"Starrk?" I asked timidly.

He yawned and nodded. "I'm guessing you wanna see the Blueberry?"

I nodded and he hummed.

"Stay here. Inside's a real mess and I don't want you tripping over anything and busting up your pretty head." he said walking into the huge building. Once more I was left on my own. I pulled out my phone to see a message from Halibel.

_The nurse's office isn't in the garage you know, be careful-__H._

That's what I loved about her. Though she was my best friend and she had her moments when she could be over protective, she gave me space to breathe and do what I want to do.

The door creaked open and Grimmjow stepped out. The first thing I noticed about him was that he looked dead tired, but still drop dead gorgeous. He was wearing dungarees and the top part was off, hanging down on his hips. To my disappointment, he was wearing a shirt though. Sigh, well a girl could dream.

"Hey Shorty, thought you were having lunch with the Brady Bunch today," he said with an amused look on his face, walking to me.

"Well I was, but the most peculiar thing happened today and it's been bothering me for a while so I decided to cut lunch short to address what happened to you," I said.

"That so? What peculiar thing happened today that made you cut lunch time with your oh so precious friends then?" he asked.

"Well today when I was on the way to the rooftop, a girl stopped me, threatened me and said I should stay away from you, said you were hers. Her name's Loly or something like that. Ring a bell...Blueberry?"

I watched the expression on his face turn from amused to annoyed.

"For fuck's sake"

"Language. Now, who is she?" I pressed.

"Some...girl I had a fling with a while back. Nothing serious. Then she started to get attached and I broke it off with her" he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

Oh?

"Well she's threatened to slam my face into concrete just so you know," I said showing him my back and pretending to be upset.

He laughed.

And all I could do was stare. Those lines of stress and fatigue disappeared and he just looked so carefree and handsome. He slapped his leg and crouched a bit.

"Slam your face into concrete? That's priceless. I asked her to open the door for me once and she had to force her entire body weight onto it before it opened!"

I cracked a grin, his laughter was so contagious. I loved his laugh.

"Woo, Shorty that made my day. I hope she actually tries. I'd love to see you throw her into a wall or something." he hooted.

"I just might," I sniffed, feigning arrogance.

His laughter finally calmed down and his feral grin was back.

"You know what? If I didn't know any better I'd say you're jealous of her," he said pulling out a box of cigarettes.

Me?! Jealous?!

I snatched the box away from him and stamped on his foot in frustration. He hissed.

"Oh please Grimmjow."

"I'm right aren't I?" he said, stooping to rub his tender toes.

"There's nothing to be jealous of," I said, turning to hide my blush from him. His shadow loomed over mine and I turned to be almost chest to chest with him. Well...face to chest if you considered my height.

"Well just to let you know and to ease whatever worries you may have in your mind Shorty, I'm very much single and I'm only interested in one girl at the moment."

Butterflies erupted in my tummy.

Did he have to be so close?

I kept my head down, I refused to look into his eyes. I refused to look up.

His hand reached under my chin, just like last time and tilted my head up.

"Are you wearing make-up?" he asked suddenly.

I reddened even more. "A little."

"Why? You don't need that shit," he said gruffly.

"Because I've got a migraine and I felt really crappy this morning and if Ichigo saw that I wasn't feeling good he wouldn't make me come to school today," I said, "plus it's not even a lot!" I added defensively, stepping away from him.

I frowned at my actions and took a step towards me. I took another back. The grin returned slowly and he moved so fast I barely registered it. Suddenly he was in front of me, holding both my hands to my side, staring down at me intensely.

We stood like that for who knows how long, just looking at each other. Then my phone rang out, breaking the spell. Halibel's ringtone.

"I-I have to get that. It's Hal," I mumbled, pulling away from his grasp.

"Hello?"

"Get your ass to your lesson please. You'd better be on the language block by the time I get to the garage," she threatened casually.

"And...where are you now?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Just making my way down the stairs from the rooftop. I'm gonna make a stop for a drink though. That should give you enough time to beat feet and Grimmjow enough time to get the oil that I've been asking him to get for me since Friday," she replied.

"O-Okay! Bye!" I hung up and spun to see the boy sucking down one of those god awful cigarettes.

"I have to go before Hal gets back and apparently you have oil that you've been meant to get for her since last week," I said, shuffling my feet awkwardly on the ground.

He chocked on the smoke, clearly he forgot about the favor he'd been asked. He stood up and held his hand out to me. I stared down at it questioningly.

"What do you want? Your phone Shorty. Hand me your phone."

I gave it to him cautiously and watched him tap away at it then hand it back to me.

"My number's in there now. Text me after school or something. Am I still seeing you tomorrow for lunch?"

"Uh, sure," I replied, staring at the phone he placed back in my hand.

"Now you go before Hali-bitch gets here to kick you into next week," he said smirking.

"Don't call her that!"

He stepped towards me and I wrinkled my nose, taking a few steps back.

"Ew, you reek of that nasty smoke,"

"Aww, not even a hug?" he asked jokingly.

"To make that nasty smell rub off on me? No way Jaggerjaques," I said turning and walking away from him.

As I rushed to my next class-thankfully not running into Hal on the way- I couldn't help but feel relieved.

He was only interested in one girl.

He'd almost kissed me before.

He wanted to get to know me better.

The butterflies were having a riot in my stomach.

So this is what crushing on a guy actually feels like huh?

I liked it.


End file.
